Birds of a Feather
by M.B.Liddle
Summary: Anna finds herself surrounded, both by the shadows of her past, and the undead. Will her new assignment help her deal with life after the end? Part of the Aftermath Series. Rated T for violence, Language
1. Prologue

Birds of a Feather

A short story by M.

Prologue

The young woman lay dazed staring at the sky. The sound of a dying engine and of fire reached her as a distant echo. She propped herself up on her elbows. The world spun in dizzying circles around her head. She stumbled to her feet and tried to walk back towards the sounds. Her pulse blasted in her own ears, blotting out noise from the outside…**thump…thump…thump…** she fell to her knees. Ahead of her, someone crouched over a broken form. The figure yelled down to the man lying on the ground, the meaning of the words lost on the girl's addled mind. Slowly, words began to take shape in forms she could understand. "…ammit Uncle Steve, stay with us!"

She got up again and stumbled forward. The shadow of the overturned truck loomed over her head and choking smoke stung her eyes. She dropped next to the broken form in time to here a whisper. "It's no good kid, get out of here." At this the kneeling figure jumped to his feet. He extended a hand to the girl.

"Come on, it's no use." He urgently grasped her hand and tried to tug her to her feet. "Come on!"

"I'm not leaving him!" she shrieked, and slapped his hand away. He looked at her in shock, then turned and ran. The girl bent over the broken form of the soldier. She no longer saw his chest rise or fall. She screamed and broke down in tears. Strong hands grasped her from behind and pulled her to her feet.


	2. Part I: Dead City

Birds of a Feather

A short story by M. B. Liddle

Chapter 1: Dead City

Anna lay on her stomach on the top floor of the small office building. She peered down into the street below. "Damn." A group of seven zombies clustered around an upturned hotdog cart. Anna put her eye to the scope of her rifle. She felt the familiar contours of her most reliable partner. It was a British made support weapon, all made up in steel and polymer, coloured a dark green. Its unusual design had the magazine pulled up all the way under her chin, where the drum of rounds pressed against her cheek. Anna whispered to the weapon as she slowly placed the crosshairs on her target. A breeze lifted her short, red hair. The smell of decay wafted through the open building. "Gotcha."

The weapon barked and spat fire. The zombie's head erupted in a puff of reddish-black coagulated blood and decaying brain matter. Three more plumes shot up in the street, Anna took her time on each shot, making sure she conserved ammunition. She scanned the street below for targets.

"Where are you?" she muttered quietly. With a sudden surge of motion, a zombie burst through the door behind her. Before she could turn her rifle on this new intruder, it was on top of her. Its putrid breath made her vision hazy. She grunted and struggled with this undead thing. Over the things shoulder she could see the other two zombies from the street.

"Enough of this shit." Anna spat. She squirmed to get a better angle on her assailant, and in one swift move threw the thing up and over her head, down into the street. She leapt to her feet, leaving her rifle set up on the ground. She reached over her right shoulder and withdrew a short, red fire axe. She bounced the metal head twice on her palm to get a feel for the weight. The second zombie lurched for her, its death rattle eerie in the otherwise still air of The City. Anna bashed its face in with the flat of the axe, then followed with a flat arc that ended with a dull crack on the top of the zombies head. It fell to the ground mid-charge, tripping the third attacker. Anna administered the same prescription of steel to the final ghoul. She wiped the axe head down on the ghoul's ragged sports coat. The axe fit snugly into the long leather sling she had found it in. One of the perks of being a Sweeper was the loot, the axe being the first piece Anna had found. She thought back to her first mission with the people of Fort Institute. She'd helped clear a dorm building at the edge of the complex, her current home as fate would have it. A bunch of students had barricaded themselves in, one of the others said they'd found enough empty tin cans and pot noodles to make up three years worth of rations, with three more still stacked up in a corner. Zeds had gotten in though, a real slaughter. No weapons to speak of, besides this axe. The kid who owned the thing had taken out six of the beasts before being surrounded. Bad. Ass.

Anna broke from her ruminations and slung her heavy pack over her shoulder, feeling the old twinge of the bite that had miraculously not led to her infection. Her rifle was last to be slung, pushed over her left shoulder to give that arm a full freedom of motion. The rifle was no use in the narrow confines of buildings and alleyways that made up her route home. She drew her brother's pistol… no, _her_ pistol, her brother was no longer in any way part of her life. She descended the stairs cautiously, better safe than sorry. At the foot of the stairs she scooped up her early warning device, an IR-based explosive device that _should _have gone off the moment a zed clambered up the first step. "Fat lot of good you did me." She looked down at the small gadget in disgust. She looked out each window of the bottom floor, then, assured she was alone, flitted out the back door.

* * *

"Sader! Get in here!" Captain Joe Pouliot, former Campus Police chief, sat at his desk deep within Fort Institute. He had been with the force long before the Infection, and was one of the original founders of Fort Institute. His grand vision took long hours of the day to maintain, a sacrifice Joe was content to make for the rest of his days, yet always managed to draw a degree of resentment from Mrs. Pouliot. And now he had to deal with this again. Anna Sader shuffled in. Her face was a mask apology and surliness, but "Uncle Pouliot" knew better. Anna had certainly heard everything he was about to say more than a few times, enough to commit it to memory. The last time he had dragged her in to his office she had even recited it to his face.

"What the hell, Sader," He began gruffly," you know the damn rules, no solitary patrols." Anna looked at him, the bored child in her already creeping into her features. Pouliot stopped his speech here, there was no other way to reach the girl. "Listen kid," he began again, "You're good, but if you keep going out alone, something's going to get you. We can't afford to lose anyone, not after last year."

"There's no way they'd get me sir!" Anna blurted out. She said it without pride, the absolute sureness in one's own abilities that only reared its head in the twilight between the cockiness of the teen years and the self doubt of full adulthood.

"Bullshit." Pouliot raised a hand to silence Anna's choked rebuttal. "Would you care to explain how you got those new rips." He motioned to the threadbare field jacket of an Air Force sergeant she had worn since arriving at Institute. A fresh rip rent the fabric from armpit to mid-breast where the infected had tried to gain a hold earlier that day. Anna met the question with silence. "That's what I thought. Now see here kid, I know you've been skittish around partners since the incident." Anna shuddered at the mere mention; sometimes she still had nightmares, nightmares with hands. "but here's how it's gonna be. You work in a team, or not at all. You want to fly solo, so be it, but as long as you do you're not going to leave this compound." Anna nodded.

"I can't work with those guys again." Anna said sullenly.

"I thought you'd say that," Captain Pouliot dropped an open file onto the desk, turned for Anna to see, "which is why I want you on this new team. The Sweepers employ an important role, finding vital supplies, clearing new housing and such, but we need to be doing more." He let his statement sink in and gave Anna time to peruse the file. "This new group, Raven Corp. they want to call it, will take the fight to the zeds." Anna's interest peaked. She shifted the top sheet to peek at the personnel roster. A small photo at the top of the page showed a young woman with long, black hair.

"That's Rebecca Iseley, team leader. She's good, better than you even."

"But sir!" Anna protested, she's just a kid." She looked over the sheet again. Sure enough, by the box marked 'age,' a small red 17 stood inked on the paper.

"Be that as it may, she's a strong leader. You two have a lot in common." Anna dropped the file back on the Captain's desk.

"I'll take it." She said simply. She scooped up the file and folded it neatly under her arm. Pouliot stood and shook her by the hand.

"You made the right choice, kid, Raven Corp's based in the "C," B block. You can report immediately." Anna flipped him a blasé salute and left for her new assignment. As the door swung shut, Joe sat heavily in his chair. 'Easier than I anticipated,' he thought to himself, 'I hope my niece can handle her better than I can.' He put the framed photo of Rebecca's smiling face back on his desk and went back to his work.

* * *

Doug the armoury technician was refilling a stack of M-16 magazines when the object of his unrequited love walked in. Anna truly was a vision in her olive drab surplus fatigues and loosely-fitting field jacket gathered at her waist by thick canvas belt. Whoever Sergeant Paris was must have been a really lucky guy for her to be wearing his jacket as much as this girl did. Anna's green eyes locked onto Doug's almost immediately. It was these intense looks that provided the highlight of Doug's days. Sometimes he liked to pretend they meant something, but Anna always bore that same intensity with everything she did.

"Oh Dougie." She called, wandering up to his armoury counter. She dropped something under the grating that separated the outside world from this tiny haven of steel and lead. It clattered loudly. Doug instantly recognized it as the early warning device he had given her, a token with which he had hoped to score some form of appreciation. "It didn't work." Anna said softly. Doug noted the new tear in Paris' jacket and gulped.

"I'm so sorry, I thought…" Anna cut him off in mid sentence.

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again, k?" With that she left the gadget lying in Doug's hands. 'She's so understanding.' Doug whispered to himself.

* * *

Author Notes:

Welcome to the plot! I have high hopes for this story, it may seem a little slow now, but I'm hoping to write more action in later chapters. (P.S there's going to be four more.)


	3. Part II: Cold Company

Birds of a Feather

A short story by M. B. Liddle

Chapter 2: Cold Company

Anna threw her bags down on the aged bed frame. It groaned in protest. "Shut it you!" she said spitefully. She hadn't enjoyed uprooting herself just to move everything she owned across the small quad that stood between the three blocks of the ..o…rd Complex. The team leader had been every inch the overpepped cheerleader Anna had expected. She hoped to see as little of her CO as possible for the duration of her posting here. She stepped back to take in her new surroundings. It was very much like her previous room, an old dormitory overlooking the red-brick quad that separated the three blocks of the complex. The walls were bare on Anna's side of the room, an oddity for barrack buildings. The grunt rooms where usually packed to capacity. Anna's old room, for instance, had been shared with five others, each one covering the walls with their personal effects. This room seemed only to hold one other person, female if the posters of Jude Law's Vassili Zaitsev meant anything. Anna sighed deeply; at least her roommate had good taste in movies. She felt a pang of regret as she realized who else had loved that movie above all others.

The door was flung open. Anna turned with a jolt, grabbing the haft of her red axe. She stopped immediately and affected a loose salute as the CO walked in.

"You can relax," the team leader said cheerily, "just in here to grab something." The younger woman walked over to the other side of the room and unhooked a satchel from the wall. She placed it o the bed and began rummaging through. Anna could now clearly see the stenciled words on the side of the bag. Rebecca Iseley. 'Damn.' Was Anna's only thought. Her new roommate turned to face her, a small, black handgun in hand.

"Sorry about the odd rooming arrangements, but we're all out of bunks at the moment; this building took a lot of crap from the looters back in the Panic."

Anna graced her apology with a nod, then returned to her unpacking. She threw the last of her clothes into the bottom drawer of the dresser that stood under the room's wide window. "That's the last of it." She said quietly to herself as she tossed the empty pack under the bed and reached over for her weapon satchel.

"Glad to hear it, I want you to meet the team when you're done." The voice behind her made her jump. She spun to face Rebecca, who still stood at her bed, pistol in hand.

"Gah!" Anna's incoherent retort escaped her lips before she was able to suppress it. "I thought you'd left."

"Not very observant for 'one of our best'" the young CO said playfully, flicking her fingers back and forth to make "air quotes". "Don't worry about, I'm pretty stealthy." As she spoke, she fidgeted with the handgun. It caught Anna's eye.

"That's a SIG, right?" Anna pointed at the weapon, "my dad had one, he was in the Air Force, P-228?"

"That's right." Rebecca twirled the gun on her finger, "This is my uncle's, he used to be a cop." She cocked her head to see past Anna and get a better look at her satchel. "Nice guns." Anna followed her eye-line to her open bag.

"Yeah, it's quite the collection." She spilled the bag out on the bed, revealing three handguns, a small flare gun, a pump shotgun, and her rifle. "Don't tell the boss, I know I shoulda checked these with the armoury."

"Ok, I'll make a deal. You check those things with our QM, and I won't tell central." Anna kept a smile on her face, but inside boiled at the idea of someone taking her guns, unit leader or not.

"Don't have a choice do I?" Anna quipped, rolling all but her rifle back into the satchel. Rebecca shook her head.

"I don't want to be the bad guy here, but both you and I know the rules." Rebecca held her hand out for the satchel. Anna handed it over without resistance, the words of the boss still in her head. 'Gotta keep this assignment. Can't be stuck inside again.' "You can keep the '80," Rebecca said. She stepped towards the door. "And I was serious about you meeting the rest of the team, don't make me make it an order." The door closed, leaving Anna alone. She sat heavily on the groaning bed. She refused to sulk, yet couldn't quite stop herself. Her old unit hadn't had any problem with her guns, their only redeeming value when she thought about it. She pulled the rifle onto her lap and fiddled with it. "But I still have you, Tanya." She wiped the dust of the weapons fore grip and laid it aside. She exhaled slowly to calm herself and headed out into the hall. 'Better get this over with' she thought to herself. Voices filtered out of what had to be the common room. Anna was surprised to hear a high proportion of female vocals, not that the men were making a proportional amount of noise. She heard a few booming guffaws and the deep voice of a man much older than herself. She took ahold of the door handle and steeled herself.

* * *

The men and women of Raven Corp sat roughly in a circle on the various chairs and sofas that had been dragged into the room. Their leader sat in the center of them, a wide smile on her face as she chatted up a storm with those under her charge. Bill, they're quarter master had just finished one of his raunchier jokes when the door creaked open. The room tensed up considerably when the new girl walked in. She had a forced smile on her face. She was met by silence as she slowly moved further into the room. Rebecca jumped up from amidst her unit and moved to stand next to Anna.

"I'd like to introduce you to your new teammate." She said, smiling broadly, "This is Anna, she just transferred over from the Sweepers. Anna, this is the team." The team stood and faced the newcomer. Anna gritted her teeth as she tried to stare down the dozen pairs of eyes pointed in her direction. The tense silence grew until once again broken by Rebecca's bubbly voice. "Okay, introductions. This here's Bill, Quartermaster." A tall, bronzed man waved. He was much older than the rest of the group, but strong muscles still rippled below his skin.

"I'll be the man carin' for your guns, Don't worry, there in good hands." He held both his hands up, revealing the rough fingers of an experienced mechanic.

"And then we have Sam, our radio operator." Anna continued. Sam was a pimply boy who couldn't be over sixteen, yet his eyes shared the hardness that all survivors who had been forced into fighting had. "And then Alex, Dina, and Martin, riflemen." The indicated trio nodded, Alex and Martin stood at about the same height and shared a vague European look, Dinah was short, with long black hair spilling out from under a wide-brimmed safari cap. Alex spoke in a quiet voice with just a touch of a polish accent.

"I saw that L-86 you were packing, props." She touched two fingers to her temple in a salute. Anna nodded in reply.

"And then over there are Holly, Michelle, Don, and Sean. They're our "vanguards." Anna looked puzzled.

"Vanguards?"

"Oh, yes, Raven Corp. is a New-Pattern unit, we're set up in a three tier system… Well, I'll let them explain." Rebecca waved over to the broad-shouldered blond guy at the head of the group of four. He step forward slightly and tipped his black polymer helmet in Anna's direction.

"Our job is to keep those zed of the riflemen's backs, engage them hand to hand with those heavy bastards." He motioned to a stack of S.W.A.T issue riot shields leaning against the world.

"Of course we hope it doesn't come to that in the field," Rebecca chimed in, "The New-Pattern force was designed for large scale combat, we're just the prototype unit."

Anna turned to the unit leader. "You said it was a three tier system right, what's the third tier?"

"Well, the Vanguards do the close in work, and the riflemen take on targets at long, range, the third group is the "Fusiliers" they operate at mid-range, Mandy and Megan over there are our complement, and the team is rounded out by Alice, our sniper." Alice stood in the corner apart from the others, cradling an Accuracy International rifle with an enormous scope. "I'm sure you'll make great friends."

"So where do I fit in all this?" Anna asked as the group returned to its conversation. 'I figure I can at least live with these people, gotta talk to that Bill at least. Alice kinda creeps me out." The cold sniper stood in the corner, eyes still on her new teammate.

"Oh, I figured you'd be a riflemen, although you brought along the right equipment for a fusilier."

"I'll stick with the rifle, thanks." Anna was perhaps more curt than she really meant to be, but the unit paid her no mind.

"Shiny, I'll hook you up with your ammo ration card in the morning. Oh, and keep sharp out there, I'm still lookin' for an XO."

Anna nodded and left the room behind her. Her new unit carried on as before.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey all, sorry this one came out a little late, real life intervenes. The next chapter should be out a lot faster. Keep reading and keep reviewing. Also keep your eye out for new stuff, I have something in the development stages that I hope you will all enjoy


	4. Part III: The City Awakes

Birds of a Feather

A short story by M. B. Liddle

Part III: The City Awakes

"Dammit!" Anna awoke with a start. She had been having that dream again, "The Incident" as her councilor liked to call it. He thought it was cute. Anna had other thoughts on the matter. Anna looked over the room that she shared with the commander. The prone form across the room snored loudly. Anna reached for the sleeping pills she kept on the desk behind her head. She downed a few and rolled over; a disturbed sleep pattern was just part of her routine at this point.

* * *

The team spread out over the grey gravel that filled the streets of The City. While it had escaped the heavy bombing that was visited upon the cities of Springfield and Boston that it sat between, The City had still taken its share of beating. Every street sported at least one ruined building, several had sustained collapses and at least one office block lay completely on its side, the pieces cutting the main street in half. The remnants of concrete and mortar crunched under the boots of the small unit of survivors. The dark swept in to surround the group as the sun dipped below the skyline. The figure at the front of the group raised a fist, signaling the other to stop and drop. Behind the figure, the three survivors dropped in place and scanned the area for zombies. In the back of the pack, Anna raised her new night sight to her eye. The eerie green light the sight cast on the landscape illuminated the abandoned buildings of The City's central shopping district, but failed to pick out any targets. The whisper from the front of the unit drifted back, "OK, we're going in."

The group sprang up as one and crept towards the open front of a two-story toy store. Don was the first to reach the maw of the broken window. He chipped the last of the jagged edges out of the well-worn window ledge with his riot shield and scanned the darkness that filled the inside. Mandy came next and took up position next to Don. She brought her weapon up and took careful aim at a figure just inside the room. She held her aim until the figure moved. Her weapon coughed once and the figure dropped with a wet splat. The two Ravens hopped over the low wall into the store. Anna and Dina came running from their covering positions, replacing Don and Mandy.

"Move up." Mandy whispered quietly. The group split up, Anna and Dina each taking a side aisle, while Don moved up the center, shield forward. Mandy followed close, holding her weapon over Don's shoulder in close order drill position. Anna moved slowly, each step carefully picked out to reduce noise. She could only see through the narrow window offered by her sight. Broken toys swamped the section of aisle head where a unit of shelving had collapsed. As Anna passed, she looked through to see Mandy's back pass out of view. 'Gotta keep up.' She hopped from foot to foot to land in the few open patches of floor. Her foot caught a large box of Lego on her last hop. The clattering of plastic on tile was deafening in the silence of the store. Anna swore under her breath and drew in close to the shelving. The moans were quick to follow the last falling brick. They sounded from all around the previously empty room. Anna heard the muted noise of her teammates firing in the other aisles. One of the moans drew much closer, almost right behind Anna's ear. She whirled and brought up her rifle. The sight revealed that the target was already right on top of her. It reached out and grabbed the barrel of her rifle and reached towards her with its other hand. Anna fired reflexively, painting the target torso red. The target staggered backwards with a low whine. Anna dispatched it with a shot to the temple.

"Ow! He got me! Gorrammit!" Anna's head snapped towards the source of the voice. She couldn't put a face or even a name to the voice. It was loud and female, and coming from elsewhere. Anna put it out of her mind. She scanned her own aisle and found it clear. She backtracked to the break in the shelving and ducked into the central lane. She paused for a second and glared at where she knew the exit was. She wanted desperately to bolt, every reflex she had built up during her time as a Sweeper screamed for her to run. The toys behind her crunched. Before she could turn around, a whisper crept into her ear.

"Tag." Anna whirled around to see the faint green glint of a pair of night vision goggles. She let out an exasperated grunt and punched the figure lightly in the arm.

"That's no way to treat your CO." the figure said jokingly, "Now get your butt outside, your out." Anna grumbled and slouched her way out the open double doors. Outside a large converted school bus stood idling. She clambered into the back to sit beside the rest of Raven Corp. She dumped the paintball gun she had been using inside on the back seat and slumped beside the blond haired Sean. The front of his hair was stained red.

"Nice shot by the way," He said cheerfully, "Don't even worry about the bruises."

"I'm sorry, natural reaction." Anna smiled, if only for a brief moment. She looked over at her seat-mate. His face was sincere, he looked like he was having a genuinely good time, despite the pain he must be feeling from several close rang paintballs.

"I'll say, you're like, crazy skilled." He laughed and leaned back against the seat.

"Yeah, like a ninja." Anna put her hands up in a mock Karate stance. Sean made one too match.

"Didn't you know? I too am ninja." He let her laugh a little. "No really, I got my black belt before this thing went down." He motioned to the world outside the window. Anna was about to ask about this when the back door of the bus opened to let Mandy and Don in. Mandy looked coldly at Anna as she passed, while Don gave her an apologetic shrug of the shoulders. Rebecca followed the remaining "Targets" as they filed onto the bus. They took their seats as the bus began its trip back to Fort Institute.

"Okay all," Rebecca said from the front of the bus, "since you all got eaten, I guess you won't be needing your rations." Her tone was so obviously joking, but she still managed to rile up a half-hearted groan from the squaddies. "Seriously though, we got beat out by the Sweepers six times out of ten, we gotta step it up before they let us operate in the field. Remember, it's not just our rep as a unit on the line here, but the whole New-Pattern system." She looked over the men and women under her command and smiled. She knew they had it in them, a couple of them just needed a little talking to was all. "Okay, time for the morning song! Hit it Tim." The elderly bus driver hit the switch in the front console to turn on the CD player. The opening bars of The Proclaimers' 500 Miles blared from the overhead speakers. The whole unit joined in for the chorus as the bus drove back home.

* * *

Lunch the next day was mediocre, even by post-apocalyptic standards. Anna sat at her usual table across from Doug.

"And she had the nerve to lecture me, for cryin' out loud. I goofed once, ONCE, that whole day, and she decides to come down on me like it's all my fault we lost to the Sweeps. She even waited till we were behind closed doors, wanted to keep up the "nice guy" routine in front of the unit I reckon." Anna broke off her rant into unintelligible grumbling. Doug looked across at her and tried desperately to come up with a diplomatic way to handle her latest complaint about her new assignment.

"Well, she does have a point." He said as quietly as possible. The angry look he received almost shut him up right there, yet he persevered. "I mean, if you had been out for real, pausing for even a few seconds could have a whole bunch of consequences. I've had teams come back with half the load-out they left with because some guy was off in la-la land. And she may have been doing you a favor, not shooting you down in front of a unit you just left. And I have to get back to the armoury or I'll be fired." He scuttled off in the direction of the restrooms.

"Way to grow a backbone right when I need you." Anna muttered under her breath. She scanned the room for someone else to sit with. Somebody waved to her from across the room. Anna couldn't help but crack a smile when she recognized Sean. He sat with Alex and Megan at a small table in a corner of the room. Anna scooped up her food and walked over to the trio. She dropped her tray down on the table and sat down across from Sean and Megan.

"Fancy meeting you here." Sean said. The girl next to him nodded in Anna's direction but continued to eat her soup. Alex was busy on one of Fort Institute's new Personal Assistant Devices, said to be one of the first re-institutions of mobile texting in the remnants of civilization.

"Funny thing that." Anna said flippantly, "You know it's been a month since I joined the unit, and I've never eaten with any of you."

"Don't worry about it," Sean said warmly, "We didn't do much of anything with anyone else for ages when we arrived." He made a broad motion that included himself and the two women.

"You guys are together?" Anna asked.

"Hmmm..?" Sean looked back to Anna.

"You guys came here together?" Anna asked. "Did you guys know each other or something?" Sean nodded.

"Yeah, we all went to high school together up in New Hampshire." Alex took a break from her texting to weigh in on the subject.

"What brought you down here? That's quite a way. You know, with the apocalypse and all."

"Well…" Sean paused to gather his thoughts, "We had this friend, pretty cool guy. Got his Eagle and everything. Anyway, he had a plan for if zombies took over, he had all the details. When they rose he was in college down here, at this place actually. We followed his plan and all got together back home, but he was stuck down here. He managed to call us right before the bombings, told us to stay put. We came down after he stopped calling."

"Did he make it?" Anna asked tentatively. The looks on the faces of Sean and especially Megan told her all she need to know. "Sorry."

"Hey, that was a long time ago, we're a team now, he made us a team, and now you're on the team."

"Thanks." Anna smiled, a feeling of contentment at her acceptance spreading through her. The group settled as they finished their lunch.

"Man, this Haven Gruel tastes nasty." Megan made a face as she dumped the tray that had held the offending material.

"Got that right." Alex dumped her tray next to her friend's, albeit more violently. Sean and Anna followed slightly behind, chatting about the day before's simulation. Ahead of them, the two woman ran into Rebecca. Even from Anna's vantage point it was obvious that something was going horribly wrong. The Alex and Megan sprinted off and Rebecca rounded on Anna.

"Trainor, Sader, get to the barracks, now! No talking, I'll explain when we get there." She turned around and ran off towards the commons. Already the fort's central quad was already teeming with activity. Anna made for the barracks at full speed, Sean trailing half a pace behind.


	5. Part IV: Lost Cause

Birds of a Feather

A short story by M. B. Liddle

Part IV: Lost Cause

A light rain fell over Fort Institute. Puddles already lay about the path, dirty water splashed under the multitude of boots that thundered towards their destinations. Sean and Anne arrived at the Raven Corp. Barracks a step behind Alex and Megan. The four of them clomped up the three flights of stairs that led to the top floor of the ..o…rd Complex. Bill held the door for them.

"Common room." He stated flatly. The team was already assembled by the time Anna entered the room. Rebecca had somehow beaten them there and was standing in front of the big cork board in the back of the room. Beside her was an absolute beast of a man. He was at least seven feet tall and built like a tank. His skin was darkened and wrinkled by the sun and he bore the type of walrus mustache the likes had not graced a man's face since World War I. He was suited up in full urban camouflage, yet wore the blue beret of the former U.N.'s peacekeepers. A massive revolver sat strapped to his thigh, which even under the body armour must have inspired envy in even a gazelle. This man cleared his throat loudly as the last of the unit entered the room.

"Hello, my fellow survivors." His voice was unbelievably gruff, a voice which instantly demanded the respect of all who heard it. His accent was hard to place, possibly mid-western, with a hint of Canadian and an accent Anne had never heard before. "I am Thomas Hayes; I was a major in the U.N. Peacekeepers station in South Africa during the first outbreaks. I have been brought here to run military operations for the duration."

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, the duration of what? We haven't been told anything." Dinah asked from the back of the pack.

Major Hayes stepped to the side of the board, revealing a map of The City. Fort Institute was clearly visible, a mass of straight red lines and crosses denoting the extensive defenses that had been built since the outbreak. Separate from the Fort where outbuildings and reinforced civilian dorms denoted in blue, these extended beyond the walls for a good block in every direction. Further out were a diverse mix of inhabited ruins, fortified houses and populated office blocks that sheltered the human population of The City. Small pockets of grey denoted areas of light infestation. Ghoul clearing operations had begun as soon as the walls went up, and the city itself was remarkably empty. The bottom of the map, however, was a sea of dark grey, numbers in red put the total count at four thousand undead. The room became silent as the individuals eyes were inevitably drawn to this number.

"This is a swell unlike any we have yet seen. These ghouls are coming from as far away as the Hero City. Something is drawing them here, we don't know how, or why, but they must be stopped." Major Hayes clenched one of his meaty fists. "You will be operating in Tandem with the Sweeper and StatDef Teams to eliminate this hoard before it reaches the city inner limits."

"But sir, can't we just sit back behind the walls and bleed them dry, the way we've operated for years?" It was Michelle who spoke this time.

"That is not acceptable, we cannot afford to lose the unsecured buildings outside our perimeter. This is how we must fight them." The Major relayed his plan to the listening unit. They were to join the Sweepers in isolating small packs of zombies and eliminating them, drawing them away from the human settlements while the engineers had time to construct standing fortifications. The StatDef teams would man these, holding vital areas of the city for as long as possible. Engineers would continue to build layer after layer until either the zombies were dead, or the humans were.

"… In conclusion, you are all now officially integrated into the New Pattern Army. As such you are to be considered the premier of Humanities fighting forces. Congratulations, you are all soldiers." Whispers shot back and forth throughout the room, it was obvious the men and women present relished this little fact. "You will receive new uniforms, body armour, and equipment as soon as it becomes available, but for now all we can equip you with has been transferred to your unit armoury. Good luck soldiers, all that is left to do is take your protein pills and put your helmets on. I'll see you on the battlefield." With that he strode from the room, most likely on his way to marshal the other two New Pattern units.

* * *

Once the commotion of their impromptu commissioning had died down, Rebecca took hold of the meeting. Okay, soldiers," she used the term with no small amount of pride, "everything command sent us is in this crate." She kicked the dark green plastic case that stood behind her. "Bill, divvy it up. Team leaders, I want you in my quarters as soon as you're done loading up. Marshalling is in one hour, let's move people." She spun on her heel and marched towards her room. Bill took a hold of the crate's lid and pulled it open. From within he pulled two odd looking weapons. They looked to be little more than a wooden stock grafted to a solid looking receiver block, a long narrow barrel extending forward, and a pistol grip and trigger below. The whole assembly looked rather lethal.

"The S-Model "Roland Special" .22 caliber rifle," Bill read, "Sturdy construction, capacity for two hundred rounds, and more reliable than an AK 47. Comes with two mags, attachable bayonet and butt spike, detachable scope, iron sights, each. Looks like one hell of a gun, though I never put much stock in the .22 myself. We got eight, I figure they go to the riflemen first?" He looked to the five designated riflemen. They all shook their heads, the weapons they carried were their own, a mixture of pride and loyalty allowed space for no other. "Okay then, any other takers?" All four Vanguards took one. No one else seemed to want the unorthodox weapons. Bill just shrugged and shouldered one for his self. "Next we have…" he rummaged around and pulled out a string of vials containing bright green liquid, "Formula jp-7374 Antivirus." He tossed the improved formula out to everybody. The rest of the crate contained various devices dreamed up by the people in R+D. At the bottom, Bill pulled out a small, black, box.

"This one's got a tag, 'For Tania,' Who the hell is Tania?" Anna instantly recognized her rifle's name.

"That one's for me!" she blurted out. Bill tossed it over. Anna opened it up to reveal a laser sight for the L-86 LSW. Such things were rare and well beyond the ration allotment of a simple grunt like Anna. Inside was a plain piece of paper emblazoned with the simple message, "Don't Die." Anna tucked the note into her back pocket and palmed the sight.

"Alright, everybody's set to go, pack up and move out." Bill made a shooing motion and the group broke up to grab their gear. Anna grabbed Tania from where the rifle hung on the wall. She screwed the sight securely to the rail that hung below the barrel. She shouldered it and went to her room. In front of the door Rebecca was handing out orders to the team leaders. Anna slipped inside and closed the door behind her. She changed quickly and efficiently into her combat gear. Last of all she slipped on the worn field jacket she had carried since before arriving at the Fort. She tightened her belt around her waist and let it gather the loose folds of the too-big article of clothing. She through her pack on over that and tugged on the straps to ensure a snug fit. Behind her Rebecca was doing much the same thing, having entered the room shortly after Anna. Anna turned and saw her commander pull on a set of S.W.A.T. fatigues. A necklace hung down from her neck as she bent to secure the buckles.

"What's that necklace?" Anna asked as she gathered what little of her hair hung down in a short ponytail.

"Oh, this," Rebecca twirled the keepsake in her fingers, "It's the casing from the first zombie I ever killed." She held it up revealing it to be a revolver round. The two went back to preparing for battle. Anna slung the fire axe over her other shoulder, while Rebecca put the SIG into a shoulder holster on the front of her tactical vest. She also took a small caliber revolver and shoved it into a hip holster that caused the butt to stick out forward like a hilt of a sword. She clipped the navy blue helmet she was wearing securely under her chin. Finally, she slung a short riot model shotgun across her neck and shoulder so that it hung down just at elbow level. The shotgun was black with a pistol grip and no stock, the word "Freddie" scratched into the barrel. The two women left the room to join the others. Anna shuffled to stand with the riflemen in the common room that fast became crowded with everyone in full gear.

"All right everyone," Rebecca spoke from the hallway, double time! Muster's in five!" Everyone marched out down the narrow corridor and out into the quad that filled the space between the individual blocks of the "C" the light rain that had hit them on the way into the building had become a downpour. Major Hayes stood a head taller than anyone present, pacing and barking orders. Raven Corp. Lined up next to the rest of the New Pattern units, Rhino and Peregrine Corps.

"Alright men!" Hayes boomed, "We move!"

"Follow me!" Rebecca yelled to her troops, and the whole group trotted towards their position.

* * *

The storm reached fever pitch as Raven Corp. took up position in the space just under one of the highway ramps that ran through the city. The mound of earth that raised the road above the city made a fine wall to hold back zeds, but the ramp left an open spot where the road ran northward towards Fort Institute.

"At least the highway will keep the road off us!" Alex yelled over the thunder. The four riflemen knelt behind make-shift barricades constructed of burned out cars and trucks. Anna flipped open her scope and caught her first glimpse of the hoard that had been designated Cluster Delta. Sweeper teams had engaged this cluster and tried to draw it west, but it was determined to drive due north. Anna chambered her first round and waited with baited breath. Beside her Dina and Alex did the same, pulling the charging handles on their SIG522 rifles. Martin, the rifle team leader, prepped and shouldered his M4. Anna heard the report of the unit's sniper rifle. She didn't see the kill anywhere on her scope, but then again, Alice never missed.

* * *

Major Thomas Hayes scowled at the battle board his command team had set up in the forward-most "bunker". Rhino and Raven Corps. Had engaged the enemy at the outer perimeter and been driven back. Rhino was currently making a fighting retreat down one of the side streets, drawing away Clusters Alpha and Charlie. Raven Corp., however, had taken to ground in a two story complex just south of the main line of resistance. Cluster Delta had been moving straight towards the city center since the beginning of the battle, and it worried the major a little. 'Zach's never shown this level of focus.' He silently mused. The rattle of gunfire drew his attention. Engineers on the half finished ramparts were taking up arms to repel one of the small bands of zombies that had broken through his net. He scowled again.

"Turn the Bobcats on 'em!" he ordered hoarsely. His runner sped off to relay the command. The former Peacekeeper went back to looking angrily at the map.

* * *

Anna let loose on another group of zombies. While full auto was often discouraged in a zed-combat situation, she was rewarded with a trio of kills. In the other windows of the second floor, her fellow riflemen walked fire up and down the street outside, dropping Zs left and right. Below her feet she heard the roar of shotguns as the fusiliers and vanguards fought to hold the lower floor. The sea of foes outside swelled as more zombies pushed towards the barricaded doors. From her vantage point above, Anna saw them buckle inwards slightly. She leaned out of the window and sprayed the crowd below her. The dropped zombies gave the crew downstairs to pile more junk against the doors, shoring up their position. Thunder crashed about the building, crafting a scene to climactic to be real. Tania clicked empty for the second time that day. Anna reached around behind her for another magazine and found none. She shouldered the support weapon and pulled her pistol from her belt. At this height she didn't bother wasting ammo trying to hit anything that wasn't directly below her. She went through mags quickly; more zombies replaced those dropped by her and her team every second. She was down to the last one when an almighty crash signified the failing of the door barricades. Anna ran to the stairs. In the lobby below, the vanguards did their best to halt the tide, but gave ground steadily. When the last of the team was safely upstairs, they too clambered up the narrow steps. Anna helped Sean and Megan tip a desk up over the railing, blocking the stair case. The clawing on the other side began almost immediately.

"Sam, get on the horn to the boss, give him our situation." Rebecca dispensed orders rapid fire. "Mandy, tend to the wounded. Don, Michelle, I want these stairs covered, pronto. Anna, how're the rifles going?" it took a second for Anna's brain to catch p with her ears.

"Low on ammo, wet, and cold, boss." Her reply was curter than warranted, yet Rebecca took it in stride.

"Alright, have Bill spill his pack." Anna nodded and left. Rebecca looked over her unit. Holly was nursing a broken arm, Mandy was administering the cure to Megan and Sean, yet to tend to the deep scratch on her own cheek. Rebecca rubbed her arm were she would no doubt be sporting some spectacular bruises tomorrow_ if she lived._ Suddenly, explosions rocked the street outside.

"Sam, what the hell is going on!?" Rebecca spat as she regained her balance.

"It's command, they say they're coming to get us!" Sam yelled excitedly over the noise.

* * *

Major Hayes stood atop the lead Bobcat. The former maintenance vehicle was armed with all the explosives a college hem.. Lab could produce, and the driver had no qualms unleashing it on the undead. The Major himself had his Taurus in his hand, his "elephant gun" as his friends in the service had so jokingly ribbed. The bark of the massive hand cannon signaled death to the zombies within reach. Behind him more jury-rigged battle vehicles ploughed through the hoard, exacting death on those who had the gall to resist. Hayes bellowed a deep and throaty laugh, until something very wrong caught his eye. The building Raven Corp. had holed up in emitted a plume of dust and debris from its first floor, signs of an imminent structure collapse.

"Bollocks."

* * *

The world moved below Anna. Suddenly, the two Ravens she had been standing next to move up and away from her very fast. She found herself sliding on her back down into what used to be the first floor. Jagged concrete struck her as she fell. Her pack was torn asunder, spilling her gear. Tania tumbled past her, flipping end over end. She grabbed the axe from its sling before it too was torn open. She swung it, managing to arrest her fall. She lay dazed among the rubble for scant seconds. An arm protruded from a nearby slab of concrete, waving about and grasping at air. Anna sliced it in two with the axe and tried to prop herself up. Deep, breath-halting pain ran from her lower back to her left shoulder. She screamed her throat raw. The sounds of battle were muted, both by pain and distance, and it was dark. 'Basement' Her thoughts came fuzzily together. She scrabbled about in the dark and found the strap of her rifle. Useless without bullets, she secured it to her unwounded shoulder. Somewhere in the darkness, zombies moaned. Tears ran hot in Anna's eyes, memories of pain rushing to meet her. Her gut twisted as she recalled the "Incident." She had been left like this before. Her squad left her for dead in the ruins, trapped under dirt. She had cried out. Her squad leader had seen her calling from the ruins and turned a blind eye. How she had hated them, hated the hypocrisy of their "teamwork" and "brotherhood." Intense pain pulled her from her memories. A zombie had her leg, was trying to get through her boot. The pressure popped something in her ankle. Anna pulled herself backwards as fast as she could, ignoring the shooting anguish. Her hand happened on something metallic. She brought her pistol, her brother's pistol around, putting the very last round in the chamber through the zombie's eye. The pistol locked open. She dropped it beside her and lay stunned as the pain over took her. Through her fear addled eyes she thought she saw some great light open up in the sky. Some beautiful form descended an angel perhaps. It laid hands on Anna and hoisted her up into the sky. As she lost her last grips on consciousness, a voice echoed in her mind.

"Do one left behind, not on my watch."

The End

* * *

Author's Notes:

Thank you all for reading this installment of the Aftermath saga. Not sure where I'm taking it next. I have future stories planned out, but might go back and fill in some blanks, a prequel or two, or expand on some of these character's backgrounds. Let me know what you think!

-M. B. Liddle


	6. Epilogue

Birds of a Feather

A short story by M. B. Liddle

Epilogue

"I regret the circumstances that put you through this. I claim full responsibility. What good is a major who injures his own troops? Anyway, when you're up and about again, I want to extend an invitation to join my personal unit, we could use fighters like you."

* * *

"Hey there Anna, Glad you pulled through, the room just isn't the same without you and the unit would sure miss your quiet wit…um.. Oh, and congrats, you get that XO posting, that is if Major Tom doesn't try to steal you from me. See you back at the "C" when you're up and about, bye!"

* * *

"Hi Anna, It's Sean. Just wanna say get well soon. Megan an' me have got some R and R next week, we're going to try and get up to see you. Hey, I saw your axe when they brought you in, I want to talk to you about when you're better. Seeya then!"

* * *

"Hey Anna. I fixed up the sight. Don't worry about paying me for it; just want you to stay alive out there. Also, I tuned up Tania for you, don't worry, she's safe with me here at the armoury. Hey guess what, they promoted me up from technician to R+D, how cool is that. Tried to see you yesterday, they said you couldn't be reached. Get well soon, Doug."

* * *

The man in the doorway put the recordings down on Anna's bedside table. Even through her still bleary eyes, Anna recognized his face.

"Mike?" she croaked, turning up to squint at her older brother. He looked much older in the uniform of the Haven Rangers, the command star winking brightly on his chest. Tears welled up in both sibling's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Mike managed to choke. He bent and embraced his wounded sister. She hugged him back, trying hard not to cry.

"Don't be."


End file.
